LIBRARY 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

SANTA  BARBARA 


PRESENTED  BY 

MRS.  HENRY  FOWLER 


_ 


Sir  Oliver  Lodge  Is  Right 


SIR  OLIVER  LODGE 
IS  RIGHT 


Spirit  Communication  a  Fact 


By 
GRACE   GARRETT  DURAND 


Pribatrlp 

LAKE  FOREST,  ILL. 
1917 


COPYRIGHT,  1918,  BY 
GRACE  GARRETT  DURAND 


Press  of  Rand  McNally  &•  Co. 


8F 

\  7,  7  2,  '  LIBRARY 

tTNTVT^TTY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
1$  SANTA  BARB  AHA 


/  dedicate  this  volume  to  my 
beloved  Sister 

MARY  HELEN  GARRETT 

who  in  passing  over  into  the  higher 
life,  February  2,  1917,  drew  aside 
the  veil  for  me,  that  I  might  know 
the  Truth  and  receive  this  great 
revelation  of  Spirit  communication 

G.  G.  D. 


PREFACE 

T  N  giving  out  this  revelation  to  the  world  it 
is  only  with  the  deepest  sanctity  and  rever- 
ence, and  I  might  add,  a  reluctance  in  the  fear 
that  this  beautiful  and  wonderful  experience 
may,  through  necessity  of  the  times,  be  soiled 
by  public  skepticism;  but  in  the  belief  that 
in  the  world  today  there  are  millions  eagerly 
awaiting  the  message,  I  give  it  now  with  a 
heart  full  of  hope  and  love. 

Will  the  world  accept  it?  Or  do  the  words 
"Crucify  Him!"  "Crucify  Him!"  still  cling 
to  suffering  humanity  in  their  potency  and 
unbelief? 


G.  G.  D. 


LAKE  FOREST,  ILL., 
Nov.  i,  1917 


CONTENTS 


PACK 


Chapter     I.     Present    Day    Interest    in 

Psychic  Phenomena       .     13 

Chapter  II.  Scientific  and  Literary 
Notables  Who  Were  Out- 
spoken Spiritists  .  .  .21 

Chapter  III.  My  Conversations  with 
Abraham  Lincoln,  Count 
Tolstoi,  and  Joan  of  Arc  27 

Chapter  IV.  Clergy  from  Every  Church 
and  Creed  Acknowledge 
Spiritism  as  a  Fact  .  .  37 

Chapter  V.  The  World's  Greatest 
Statesmen,  Authors,  and 
Poets  Voiced  the  Truth 
of  Spirit  Communication  4 1 

Chapter  VI.  My  Own  Awakening  to 
the  Truth.  Christian 
Science  vs.  Spirit  Heal- 
ing, Many  Testimonials  44 

Chapter  VII.  Separating  the  Tares  from 
the  Wheat — All  Genius 
is  but  Inspiration  from 
the  Spirit  World  .  .55 


Sir  Oliver  Lodge  Ss  Right 


SIR  OLIVER  LODGE  IS  RIGHT 

SPIRIT  COMMUNICATION  A  FACT 


.  CHAPTER   I 

PRESENT  DAY  INTEREST  IN  PSYCHIC 
PHENOMENA 

TN  a  recent  magazine,  Sir  Arthur  Conan 
Doyle  caps  his  splendid  article  on  Spiritism 
with  an  interrogation,  "Is  Sir  Oliver  Lodge 
Right?"  It  is  my  great  privilege  to  affirm, 
while  Sir  Conan  Doyle  begs  the  question  in 
spite  of  the  proof  of  his  own  conviction. 

"Then  certain  philosophers  of  the 
Epicureans,  and  of  the  Stoics,  en- 
countered him.  And  some  said, 
What  will  this  babbler  say?  other 
some,  He  seemeth  to  be  a  setter  forth 
of  strange  gods:  .... 

"And  they  took  him  and  brought 
him  unto  Areopagus,  saying,  May 
we  know  what  this  new  doctrine, 
whereof  thou  speakest,  is? 

13 


"For  thou  bringest  certain  strange 
things  to  our  ears:  we  would  know 
therefore  what  these  things  mean. 

"Then  Paul  stood  in  the  midst  of 
Mars'  hill,  and  said,  Ye  men  of  Athens, 
I  perceive  that  in  all  things  ye  are  too 
superstitious. 

"For  as  I  passed  by,  and  beheld 
your  devotions,  I  found  an  altar  with 
this  inscription,  To  the  Unknown 
God.  Whom  therefore  ye  ignorantly 
worship,  him  I  declare  unto  you." 
(Acts  17:18-19-20-22-23.) 

Century  after  century  has  passed  since  Paul 
uttered  these  words  and  yet  today  as  then  the 
same  inscription  is  found  over  the  many  altars 
of  church  and  creed —  To  the  Unknown  God. 

Like  a  voice  crying  in  the  wilderness,  Truth, 
the  Gospel  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  has  been 
but  "sounding  brass  and  tinkling  cymbal"  so 
lightly  has  it  penetrated  into  the  heart  and 
soul  of  the  mortal  of  this  earth  plane. 

When  I  can  stand  today  and  say  openly  and 
fearlessly  that  I  speak  directly  to  those  who 
have  passed  over  to  the  Life  Eternal,  or  what 
the  world  calls  Death,  the  worldly  wise,  the 
skeptical,  the  ignorant,  superciliously  smile  or 
perchance  may  pity.  Nevertheless  it  is  a  fact 
that  it  is  as  natural  for  me  now  to  speak  *to 

14 


those  on  the  other  side,  as  we  say,  as  it  is  to 
speak  to  those  in  the  flesh.  The  voices  are 
as  distinct,  oftentimes  more  distinct,  than  the 
voices  of  some  human  beings. 

In  no  article  on  Spiritism  in  recent  current 
literature  has  the  Voice  Medium  been  men- 
tioned and  yet  no  means  of  communication 
with  the  Spirit  world  is  as  positive  or  of  such 
absolute  proof.  Sir  Oliver  Lodge  in  the 
August  number  of  the  Bookman  describes  the 
different  modus  operandi  of  mediumship  but 
does  not  mention  the  voice  medium,  the  one 
complete  communication  with  the  Spirit  world ; 
but  this  is  not  strange,  for  so  far  as  is  known 
there  are  few  if  any  voice  mediums  in  England 
and  not  many  on  the  entire  earth  plane.  Jutis 
Vairi,  an  occult  brother  of  India  in  the  i8th 
Century,  told  me  recently  from  the  Spirit 
world,  in  speaking  of  the  voice  medium,  that 
there  are  today  and  always  have  been  voice 
mediums  among  the  Psychics  of  India,  but 
that  the  communication  to  man  in  India  from 
the  Spirit  world  is  more  generally  the  Voice 
of  God  within  man,  an  impression  as  it  were, 
or  conscience  thought. 

There  is  no  longer  any  doubt  in  the  authen- 
ticity of  communication  between  the  Spirit 
world  and  the  earth  plane ;  it  is  an  established 
fact  beyond  dispute,  even  though  the  intel- 
lectual, scientific  and  ecclesiastical  world  may 

15 


not  yet  be  ready  to  accept  it.  But  the  world 
today  is  blessed  with  great  minds  too  broad  to 
sneer,  too  open  to  refuse  to  listen  and  when  such 
men  as  Sir  Oliver  Lodge,  Sir  Arthur  Conan 
Doyle,  Maurice  Maeterlinck,  not  only  listen 
but  express  their  views  and  impressions,  the 
world  is  beginning  to  "wonder." 

"Sir  Oliver  Lodge,"  as  Maurice  Maeterlinck 
speaks  of  him  in  the  August  Bookman,  "is  one 
of  the  most  notable  scientists  of  our  time.  .  . 
He  has,  in  a  word,  one  of  the  best  balanced 
brains  that  one  could  hope  to  meet;  and  he  is 
convinced  that  the  dead  do  not  die  but  are 
able  to  communicate  with  us." 

The  public  very  generally  is  conversant  with 
Sir  Oliver  Lodge's  book,  "Raymond,  or  Life 
and  Death."  I  doubt  if  in  recent  years  any 
one  book  has  absorbed  the  reading  public  as 
has  this  volume.  In  these  times  of  dreadful 
stress  when  the  flower  of  manhood  has  been  so 
ruthlessly  cut  down,  for  one  to  catch  even  a 
glimpse  of  the  "beyond"  has  been  life  to  many 
an  aching  heart  that  has  suffered  in  this  world- 
wide conflict. 

This  is  perhaps  the  first  time  that  one  has 
openly  given  out  the  life  that  is  beyond  the 
veil  and  the  living  words  of  Raymond,  who  in 
his  frank  boyishness,  tells  even  the  minutest 
details  of  his  spiritual  surroundings,  is  like  a 
cup  of  cold  water  to  parched  lips.  But  Ray- 

16 


mond  was  a  new  Spirit  in  the  Spirit  world 
when  the  communications  to  his  father  were 
given  as  related  in  "Raymond, ' '  since  which  time 
he  has  had  great  spiritual  growth  and  develop- 
ment and  his  knowledge  and  understanding  of 
the  Life  Eternal  is  much  fuller  and  plainer  to 
him  now.  He  longs  to  speak  again  through 
his  father,  to  the  world — to  tell  of  the  won- 
derful and  beautiful  existence  of  those  who  have 
passed  over  from  the  battle  fields — to  assure 
the  weeping  fathers  and  mothers,  wives  and 
children,  who  are  grieving  for  their  own  in  this 
terrible  war.that  if  they  could  but  know  the 
joy  and  happiness  of  their  loved  ones  in  the 
Spirit  world,  no  more  tears  would  be  shed; 
rather  songs  of  thanksgiving  be  sung  and 
prayers  of  gratitude  be  said. 

I  have  had  several  splendid  talks  with  Ray- 
mond, and  the  conversation  is  the  same  as 
I  would  have  with  any  bright,  pure-minded, 
noble  young  man  in  the  flesh.  Raymond 
naturally  is  very  much  interested  in  the  war 
and  war  conditions,  and  in  a  conversation  with 
him  a  few  days  ago  he  spoke  of  our  own  Ameri- 
can boys  getting  ready  to  go  the  front,  or  of 
those  who  are  already  there,  and  said,  "Mrs. 
Durand,  I  love  to  look  at  them,  they  are  such 
a  fine  lot  of  fellows." 

I  have  not  as  yet  written  Sir  Oliver  Lodge 
in  regard  to  these  talks  with  Raymond, 

17 


although  I  had  meant  to  do  so,  but  Raymond 
laughingly  said  the  other  day,  "Father  gets 
thousands  of  letters  about  his  book,  so  your 
letter  might  never  reach  his  eye;  better  still, 
write  an  article  for  a  magazine  and  send  him 
the  magazine;  he  will  get  that." 

The  same  thought  was  given  me  by  one  of 
America's  richest  young  men,  who  passed  over 
the  border  a  short  time  ago  and  who  left  a 
beautiful  young  widow.  When  I  asked  him  if 
I  should  write  her  of  our  conversations,  he 
quickly  replied,  "Goodness,  no,  Mrs.  Durand, 
she  would  think  you  crazy!  But  can't  you 
write  an  article  for  a  magazine  and  send  her 
that  first  ?  The  interest  displayed  in  '  Patience 
Worth'  and  'Raymond'  shows  that  people  are 
beginning  to  think  and  it  is  the  psychological 
moment,  I  believe,  for  you  to  tell  the  world 
what  you  are  experiencing." 

This  young  man  was  no  doubt  envied  by 
half  the  world  for  his  great  wealth  inherited 
from  his  grandfather,  yet  it  was  of  no  avail 
when  he  seemed  needlessly  taken  so  early 
in  life,  and  his  worldly  possession  was  of 
naught,  but  the  fine,  beautiful  Spirit  that 
comes  to  me  and  reveals  himself  as  a  true  son 
of  God  is  the  greatest  wealth  he  could  possess. 
Noble,  clear-minded,  sweet,  full  of  love,  in- 
deed a  rare  personality  that  the  earth  plane 
missed.  God  grant  that  he  may  from  the 
18 


Spirit  world  be  of  greater  value  to  struggling 
humanity  than  the  exercise  of  his  earthly  pos- 
sessions ever  could  have  been  through  him 
had  he  been  spared. 

In  the  summer  of  1913  Mrs.  John  H.  Curran 
of  St.  Louis,  Missouri,  sat  with  a  ouiji  board  on 
her  knees,  when  the  words  "Patience  Worth" 
were  spelled  out,  with  the  declaration  that  she 
was  a  Spirit  in  the  Spirit  world  and  now  had 
come  to  speak  again  to  the  world  through  the 
mediumship  of  Mrs.  Curran.  From  that  time 
on  communications  of  all  kinds,  "conversa- 
tional, literary,  including  hundreds  of  poems, 
numerous  parables,  allegories,  short  stories,  a 
drama  and  two  novels"  have  been  given  over 
the  ouiji  board  by  Patience  Worth.  The 
world  loves  a  "Psychic  Mystery"  and  the  fact 
of  not  knowing  exactly  who  Patience  Worth  is, 
keys  the  imaginative  mind  to  a  high  degree. 
There  is  no  doubt  but  that  the  rare  beauty  of 
the  literature,  the  exquisite  diction  and  un- 
usual phraseology  is  without  parallel.  Words 
are  used  found  only  in  the  plays  of  Shakespeare, 
and  the  quick  wit  and  repartee  is  delicious. 
"A  Sorry  Tale"  has  just  been  published  and 
will  rank  with  the  novels  of  any  time. 

So  much  for  what  is  known  by  the  public. 
For  what  is  not  known  by  the  public,  my 
mother  in  the  Spirit  world  has  given  me: 
"Patience  Worth  is  a  peculiar,  unusual  Spirit, 

19 


most  beautiful  to  look  upon  and  wonderfully 
developed  spiritually.  For  years  she  had 
hoped  to  find  one  on  the  earth  plane  whom 
she  could  use  as  a  medium,  and  through  an 
instrument  particularly  adapted  for  her  use. 
This  she  found  in  Mrs.  Curran  and  the  ouiji 
board."  As  for  the  direct  voice,  she  will  have 
none  of  it,  when  I  asked  if  she  would  speak  to 
me,  preferring  her  own  way  of  communication 
exclusively  through  Mrs.  Curran  and  the  ouiji 
board,  and  my  brother  in  the  Spirit  world 
laughingly  remarked,  "No  use  to  urge  her  to 
speak  to  you.  Patience  Worth  has  a  mind  and 
a  will  of  her  own  and  we  had  better  let  it 
alone." 

From  this  particular  communication  the  re- 
sults are  charming  and  interesting.  The  only 
misfortune  is  in  the  universal  use  of  the  ouiji 
board  by  the  public,  which  the  doings  of 
Patience  Worth  has  inspired.  Mr.  Stead  in 
speaking  of  it  to  me  from  the  Spirit  world, 
recently  said,  "It  is  most  unfortunate,  for  the 
ouiji  board  is  so  unreliable  in  the  hands  of  the 
public,  it  proves  a  dangerous  instrument."  In 
other  words,  one's  own  conscious  or  subcon- 
scious thought  may  be  the  "Spirit"  the  indi- 
vidual thinks  is  speaking. 


20 


CHAPTER   II 

SCIENTIFIC  AND  LITERARY  NOTABLES  WHO 
WERE  OUTSPOKEN  SPIRITISTS 

.  STEAD  is  the  late  William  T.  Stead, 
former  Editor  of  the  Review  of  Reviews  in 
London  and  a  man  whose  name,  like  Glad- 
stone's, was  a  household  word  in  England,  and 
one  might  say  also,  in  America.  Mr.  Stead 
was  not  only  one  of  the  foremost  literary  men 
of  England  but  a  man  known  in  every  path 
of  life,  and  a  keen  investigator  of  Spirit  com- 
munication. Associated  with  Mr.  Stead  are 
the  following  scientists,  some  of  whom  com- 
prise the  English  Society  for  Psychical  Re- 
search, and  all  of  whom  have  openly  acknowl- 
edged Spirit  communication  as  a  fact  beyond 
dispute. 

Sir  William  Crookes,  F.  R.  S.,  editor  of  the 
London  Quarterly  Journal  of  Science,  inventor 
of  the  Crookes  vacuum  tube  which  made  pos- 
sible the  X-ray,  and  author  of  "Researches  in 
the  Phenomena  of  Spiritualism, ' '  says :  ' '  That 
certain  physical  phenomena,  such  as  the  move- 
ment of  material  substances,  and  the  produc- 
tion of  sounds  resembling  electric  discharges 

21 


occur  under  circumstances  in  which  they  can- 
not be  explained  by  any  physical  law  at  present 
known,  is  a  fact  of  which  I  am  as  certain  as  I 
am  of  the  most  elementary  facts  in  chemistry." 

Professor  A.  R.  Wallace  of  England  (the 
great  naturalist  and  member  of  many  scientific 
societies,  who  shares  the  honor  with  Charles 
Darwin  of  being  the  discoverer  of  the  principles 
of  evolution) ,  writes :  ' '  We  are  justified  in  tak- 
ing the  facts  of  Modern  Spiritualism  (and  with 
them  the  only  tenable  one)  as  being  fully  es- 
tablished. Its  whole  course  and  history  pro- 
claim it  to  be  neither  imposture  nor  delusion, 
nor  survival  of  beliefs  of  savages,  but  a  great 
and  important  truth."  Again  he  says:  "My 
position,  therefore,  is  that  the  phenomena  of 
Spiritualism  in  their  entirety  do  not  require 
further  confirmation.  They  are  proved  in 
other  sciences,  and  it  is  not  denial  or  quibbling 
that  can  disprove  any  of  them." 

F.  W.  H.  Myers,  poet  and  essayist,  late  head 
of  the  English  Society  for  Psychic  Research, 
and  a  great  personal  friend  of  Sir  Oliver  Lodge, 
the  present  President  of  the  Society,  said: 
"The  records  of  the  Society  for  Psychical  Re- 
search have  actually  proved  to  my  mind,  first, 
survival  pure  and  simple,  the  persistence  of 
the  spirit's  life,  as  a  structural  law  of  the  uni- 
verse; second,  that  between  the  spiritual  and 
the  material  worlds  an  avenue  of  communica- 

22 


tion  does  in  fact  exist;  third,  that  the  surviv- 
ing spirit  retains,  at  least  in  some  measure,  the 
memories  and  loves  of  the  earth." 

Prof.  Richard  Hodgson,  M.  A.  LL.  D.,  mem- 
ber of  the  British  Society  for  Psychical  Re- 
search, and  secretary  of  the  American  Psy- 
chical Research  Society,  testifies  as  follows: 
"  For  a  period  of  twelve  years  I  have  had  com- 
munication with  the  spirits  of  those  long  dead, 
through  the  mediumship  of  Mrs.  Piper.  To- 
day I  am  prepared  to  say  that  I  am  a  believer 
in  the  possibility  of  messages  being  received 
from  what  people  call  the  Spirit  land." 

Herbert  Mayo,  F.  R.  S.,  M.  D.f  Professor 
of  Anatomy  and  Psychology  in  King's  Col- 
lege, London,  England,  is  quoted  as  follows: 
"Twenty-five  years  ago  I  was  a  hard-headed 
unbeliever.  Spiritual  phenomena,  however, 
suddenly  and  quite  unexpectedly  were  soon 
after  developed  in  my  family.  This  led  me  to 
inquire  and  to  try  numerous  experiments  in 
such  a  way  as  to  preclude  the  possibility  of 
trickery  and  self-deception.  That  the  phe- 
nomena occur  there  is  overwhelming  evidence, 
and  it  is  too  late  now  to  deny  their  existence." 
And  Dr.  Robert  Chambers,  F.  R.  S.,  LL.  D., 
author  of  the  Cyclopedia  of  English  Literature, 
etc.,  declares:  "  I  have  for  many  years  known 
that  these  phenomena  are  real,  as  distinguished 
from  imposture,  and  when  fully  accepted  will 

23 


revolutionize  the  whole  frame  of  human  opinion 
on  many  important  matters." 

In  our  own  country  the  American  Society  for 
Psychical  Research  at  Columbia  College,  New 
York,  is  pursuing  this  investigation  under  the 
direction  of  Prof.  James  H.  Hyslop. 

Among  other  famous  Scientists  who  accept 
Spiritism  as  well  established  as  is  astronomy, 
chemistry  or  any  other  science,  are  the  fol- 
lowing: 

Prof.  Robert  Hare,  Professor  of  Chemistry 
in  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  Graduate  of 
Yale  College  and  Harvard  University,  Asso- 
ciate Member  of  the  Smithsonian  Institute. 

Dr.  Elliott  Coues,  member  of  the  National 
Academy  of  Sciences,  Smithsonian  Institute, 
Washington,  D.C.,  M.  A.,  M.  D.,  Ph.  D.,  Nor- 
wich University,  Johns  Hopkins  University,  a 
Spiritist  and  a  medium  also.  Dr.  Coues  pub- 
lished an  article  in  the  Philadelphia  Sunday 
Express  in  which  he  said:  "I  have  myself 
seen  spirits  of  a  good  many  dead  persons.  On 
several  occasions  I  have  been  aware  of  the 
presence  of  spiritual  bodies  of  deceased  per- 
sons who  gave  information  that  was  not  other- 
wise obtainable,  and  who  conveyed  to  my  mind 
a  conviction  of  their  identity.  .  .  .  Let  me 
tell  you  that  I  know  that  the  alleged  phenom- 
ena of  Spiritualism  are  true  substantially  as 
alleged." 

24 


The  late  Professor  William  James,  Professor 
of  Psychology,  Harvard  University. 

Prof.  Camille  Flammarion,  the  great  astron- 
omer of  France. 

Prof.  Cesare  Lombroso,  Alienist-Professor  of 
Psychiatry,  University  of  Turin,  Italy. 

Prof.  Cromwell  F.  Varley,  F.  R.  S.,  probably 
one  of  the  greatest  living  electricians  of  his 
time. 

J.  Hewat  McKenzie,  author  of  "Spirit  Inter- 
course, Its  Theory  and  Practice,"  which  is  the 
latest  evidence  by  an  English  authority  of  the 
continuity  of  life  beyond  death. 

Dr.  W.  F.  Barrett,  Professor  of  Experimental 
Physics  and  Dean  of  Faculty  in  Royal  College 
of  Sciences  of  Ireland,  whose  book  "On  the 
Threshold  of  the  Unseen"  has  just  been  given 
to  the  public. 

Dr.  T.  L.  Nichols,  F.  R.  S.,  author  of  "Eso- 
teric Anthropology."  etc. 

Prof.  James  Challis,  F.  R.  S.,  Professor  of 
Astronomy  and  Philosophy,  Cambridge  Uni- 
versity, England. 

Dr.  John  Elliotson,  F.  R.  S.,  M.  D.,  Pro- 
fessor of  Medicine  in  London  University,  Presi- 
dent of  the  Royal  Medicine  and  Chirurgical 
Society,  etc. 

Earl  of  Crawford  and  Belcarres,  F.  R.  S., 
Past  President  of  the  Royal  Astronomical  So- 
ciety. 

25 


Prof.  William  Gregory,  P.  R.  S.,  M.  D., 
Professor  of  Chemistry  in  Edinburgh  Univer- 
sity, author  of  "Outlines  of  Chemistry,"  etc. 

Prof.  Wm.  Denton,  eminent  geologist,  au- 
thor of  "Our  Planet,  Its  Past  and  Future," 
"Soul  of  Things,"  etc. 

Prof.  Joseph  Rodes  of  Buchanan,  M.  D., 
Professor  of  Psychology,  Electric  Medical  In- 
stitute of  Cincinnati,  author  of  "Therapeutic 
Sarcognomy,"  "Manual  of  Psychometry,"  etc. 

Victor  Hugo,  the  great  French  writer,  was  a 
Spiritist.  Queen  Victoria  of  England  for  many 
years  held  daily  conversations  with  her  spirit 
husband,  through  John  Brown,  a  medium,  and 
should  I  delve  deeper  into  past  history,  many 
more  personalities  that  rose  above  the  average 
in  scientific  and  literary  attainment,  may  be 
included  as  out  and  out  believers  in  Spirit 
communication. 


26 


CHAPTER   III 

MY  CONVERSATIONS  WITH  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN, 
COUNT  TOLSTOI,  AND  JOAN  OF  ARC 

PRESIDENT  LINCOLN  has  himself  told 

me  in  many  conversations  I  have  had  with 
him  from  the  Spirit  world  that  he  was  directed 
in  his  great  work  during  the  Civil  War  and  as 
President  by  his  mother  and  others  in  the 
Spirit  world.  Mr.  Lincoln,  or  "Uncle  Abe," 
as  he  has  lovingly  asked  me  to  call  him,  said 
that  had  he  respected  his  mother's  advice  the 
day  of  his  assassination  he  would  not  have 
gone  to  the  theater  the  fateful  night,  as  his 
mother  had  that  day  warned  him  not  to  go. 

The  reader  must  not  think  me  presumptuous 
when  I  say  that  I  hold  long  and  beautiful  con- 
versations with  Mr.  Lincoln,  with  Count  Tol- 
stoi, and  wonder  of  wonders,  even  with  Joan 
of  Arc.  Rich  indeed  am  I,  and  privileged  be- 
yond belief  when  that  sweet  spirit  of  renown 
sees  fit  to  come  to  one  as  lowly  as  I  on  this 
earth  plane.  When  first  she  came  the  con- 
versation began  in  French,  but  seeing  that  it 
was  difficult  for  me  to  fully  understand  her  she 
at  once  changed  to  English,  and  at  my  regret 

27 


in  not  being  more  conversant  with  French 
she  replied,  "No,  it  is  not  necessary,  for  Eng- 
lish will  in  time  be  the  universal  language." 
The  same  heroic  personality  is  still  manifest  t 
as  she  exultingly  tells  me  of  "her  brave  French 
soldier  boys"  and  how  she  is  with  them,  con- 
stantly urging  them  forward  and  onward  to  a 
triumphant  victory.  The  tender  solicitude  and 
interest  displayed  in  my  own  little  personal 
affairs  by  Mr.  Lincoln,  Joan  of  Arc,  Count 
Tolstoi  and  others,  personalities  I  have  known 
only  through  history,  is  delightful  and  touches 
me  deeply. 

Mr.  Lincoln  is  naturally  keyed  up  to  a  high 
pitch  over  the  position  we  have  taken  in  this 
world  war.  And  for  me  to  have  the  privilege 
of  discussing  the  war  and  our  own  political 
affairs  with  our  beloved  martyred  President  is 
hard  for  me  to  realize  and  harder  still  for  the 
public  to  believe. 

In  talking  over  our  country's  part  in  this 
great  war  early  last  spring,  Mr.  Lincoln  voiced 
the  importance  of  the  President's  appointing 
a  War  Board,  when  war  was  actually  declared, 
for  he  felt  there  should  be  a  central  Board,  a 
centralization  of  all  the  heads  of  the  war  work. 
The  cabinet  has  quite  enough  to  do  with  the 
usual  routine  of  the  nation  in  peace  times,  and 
to  place  upon  it  the  entire  burden  of  the  war 
would  not  be  economic  wisdom.  However, 
28 


the  members  of  the  cabinet  should  be  included 
in  this  Board  with  the  President  as  an  advisory 
head  or  ex-officio  member.  Men  should  be 
chosen  best  suited  for  these  positions,  irre- 
spective of  party  affiliation,  and  each  man  be 
peculiarly  fitted  for  the  branch  of  service  of 
which  he  is  to  be  the  head.  One  man  on  Food 
and  the  necessities  of  life  for  our  soldiers,  our- 
selves and  our  Allies,  another  for  coal  and  fuel 
of  all  kinds,  still  another  for  equipment  and 
munitions.  One  and  preferably  an  experienced 
railroad  man,  to  take  charge  of  all  transporta- 
tion and  shipping.  The  ablest  lawyer  to  be 
found  on  National  and  international  Law 
should  be  a  member  of  this  Board  to  decide  any 
legal  question  that  might  arise  between  the 
Allies  and  ourselves.  Another,  active  in  our 
Secret  Service,  to  handle  the  Aliens  within  our 
midst,  industrial  disturbances  and  strikes. 
A  special  committee  should  be  appointed  to 
take  charge  of  all  problems  directly  involving 
labor,  represented  by  one  man  as  a  member  of 
the  War  Board.  This  Board  to  meet  at  stated 
intervals  and  to  be  a  clearing  house,  as  it 
were,  in  this  great  business  of  war  which  has 
been  placed  upon  us  "for  the  freedom  of  the 
world — for  justice  and  for  peace."  I  then 
asked  Mr.  Lincoln  if  it  would  not  be  possible 
for  him  and  the  Spirit  world  to  so  impress  or 
inspire  our  administration  that  it  would  bring 

29 


about  just  such  a  Board,  to  which  he  replied, 
"Wait  and  see." 

Mr.  Lincoln  has  not  failed  to  voice  his  anger 
over  the  activities  of  some  of  our  wealthy  and 
influential  citizens,  who,  while  making  a  great 
parade  of  their  patriotism,  were  secretly  in 
collusion  with  the  enemy  in  getting  foodstuffs 
into  Germany.  "They  may  say  they  are  not 
shipping  food  to  Germany,  perhaps  they  are 
not,  but  they  know  that  it  nevertheless  gets 
there,"  and  again,  "Our  Government  will  have 
to  put  an  embargo  on  all  food,  for  too  much  of 
it  is  going  straight  to  Germany."  He  was  re- 
lieved and  pleased  when  Mr.  Wilson  did  take 
that  drastic  step  in  placing  an  embargo  on 
food  exportation. 

In  regard  to  the  submarines,  Mr.  Lincoln 
regretted  that  our  country  did  not  start  the 
building  of  submarine  destroyers  a  year  or  two 
ago,  but  he  is  more  than  delighted  over  the 
rapid  progress  now  being  made  in  building  the 
destroyers.  The  first  week  in  September  Mr. 
Lincoln  told  me  of  a  wonderful  shell  our  navy 
had  invented  and  was  using  on  the  submarines, 
"Six  submarines  already  destroyed  by  them  — 
that  shell,  Mrs.  Durand,  is  going  to  finish  the 
submarines." 

Mr.  Lincoln  has  the  greatest  faith,  however, 
in  our  aeroplane  fleet  and  feels  it  will  play  a 
most  important  part  in  hastening  the  end  of 

30 


the  war.  The  new  aeroplane  engine  has  in- 
terested him  greatly.  One  day  he  informed 
me  triumphantly,  "We  have  twenty-two  hun- 
dred aeroplanes  all  finished  and  ready  for  the 
new  engine,"  and  when  the  engine  was  finally 
demonstrated  so  successfully  Mr.  Lincoln  was 
very  happy  and  full  of  enthusiasm. 

It  seemed  to  me  last  spring  that  Mr.  Lin- 
coln was  a  little  uneasy  over  our  lack  of  war 
preparation,  but  the  magnificent  manner  in 
which  our  Government  placed  one  hundred 
thousand  men  on  French  soil  with  such  dis- 
patch and  secrecy  (I  was  told  how  many  were 
on  the  ocean,  how  many  had  landed,  how  many 
about  to  start,  where  they  had  sailed  from  and 
where  they  were,  and  what  they  were  doing. 
I  doubt  if  another  person  in  the  world  outside 
of  the  official  army  and  navy  circles  knows  as 
much  as  I  do  of  our  military  and  naval  maneu- 
vers; however,  although  a  woman,  I  can  keep 
a  secret,  particularly  when  Abraham  Lincoln 
tells  me  not  to  tell!),  the  splendid  draft  bill, 
liquor  bill,  and  other  legislative  steps,  together 
with  the  rapidity  of  military  and  naval  train- 
ing of  our  men,  and  the  unselfish  and  self- 
sacrificing  attitude  of  thousands  of  men  and 
women  from  every  class  of  society,  the  coming 
forward  of  so  many  prominent  business  men  to 
give  their  executive  ability,  experience  and 
time  to  this  great  cause,  have  all  impressed 

31 


Mr.  Lincoln  deeply.  He  knows  and  loves 
every  soldier  and  every  sailor,  every  man  and 
every  woman  and  every  child  who  has  re- 
sponded to  the  Nation's  call  in  this  great 
world  conflict,  and  he  manifests  the  keenest 
interest  in  them  all  and  in  the  great  part  his 
own  beloved  country  is  taking — for  never  in 
history,  he  has  said,  was  a  more  righteous  war 
waged,  "A  war  not  of  nation  against  nation, 
but  Justice,  Honor  and  Godliness  against  Au- 
tocracy, Greed  and  Brutality,  in  their  most 
hideous  and  viperous  forms." 

After  the  war  —  what  ?  A  brotherly  love  and 
spirituality  the  world  has  never  before  known 
—  is  the  hope  of  our  martyred  President,  God 
bless  him ! 

And  now  about  Russia.  As  a  young  girl  the 
two  men  who  stood  out  the  strongest  in  all  the 
world  for  me  were  John  Ruskin  of  England  and 
Count  Tolstoi  of  Russia.  Never  was  I  tired 
of  reading  of  Count  Tolstoi  and  picturing  him 
in  his  little  garden  under  the  shade  of  his 
favorite  tree,  pondering,  pondering  over  life 
problems  and  their  solution.  For  God  to 
make  it  possible  for  me  to  sit  in  the  quiet  of 
my  own  little  room  and  to  hear  that  great 
man  tell  me  of  Russia,  stirs  me  to  such  a 
depth  that  for  hours  after  I  can  think  of 
nothing  else.  Step  by  step  for  several  months 
has  Count  Tolstoi  led  me  with  him  in  Russia 

32 


and  with  Russia's  struggle,  but  always,  always 
the  last  thing  he  would  say,  "  Do  not  worry, 
Mrs.  Durand,  Russia  will  win." 

Ah,  how  little  does  Kerensky  and  those  who 
are  giving  their  very  life  blood  for  their  be- 
loved country  know  that  Tolstoi,  their  own 
Tolstoi  is  with  them  every  moment,  encourag- 
ing them,  leading  them,  guarding  them. 

It  so  happened  that  the  day  the  Czar  was 
exiled  that  I  had  the  great  privilege  of  a  talk 
with  Count  Tolstoi.  "I  am  very  sad,  Mrs. 
Durand,  I  am  very  sad  today.  I  do  not  wish 
to  see  the  Czar  and  his  family  exiled  to  Si- 
beria. The  Czar  did  not  mean  wrong,  he  has  a 
good  heart,  but  is  weak.  I  wish  it  were  other- 
wise and  that  they  would  not  be  sent." 

At  the  time  that  the  Russian  soldiers  were 
fleeing  and  becoming  traitors  to  the  great  cause 
of  Russia,  and  Germany  seemed  to  be  getting 
the  upper  hand  in  Russia,  upon  my  great  so- 
licitude and  alarm  over  the  situation,  Count 
Tolstoi  replied,  "No  fear,  Mrs.  Durand,  even 
if  for  the  time  being  Germany  does  gain  this 
territory,  she  cannot  hold  it.  My  soldiers 
weakening  has  only  delayed  the  end  of  the  war 
but  has  not  changed  the  ultimate  result." 

Tolstoi  I  find  is  the  same  Tolstoi — interesting 
and  interested  in  all  of  life's  problems  and  hu- 
manity's struggles.  When  I  asked  what  I  might 
say  of  him  in  my  writings,  he  quickly  replied: 

33 


"Say  to  the  world  that  I  am  the  same,  the 
same  Tolstoi  they  knew  before,  but  with  a 
larger  vision  and  a  greater  knowledge.  As  up- 
on earth  I  gave  out  my  prophecy,  so  now  do  I 
prophesy  that  this  great  conflict  is  but  the 
necessary  weapon  to  clear  the  earth  of  Greed, 
Hate,  and  Autocracy.  To  the  children  of  the 
earth  plane  let  me  say  it  will  be  to  you  a  beau- 
tiful and  wonderful  blessing,  for  from  out  the 
smoke  and  noise  of  battle  a  new  generation 
shall  be  born,  guided  from  above,  in  which  a 
great  spiritual  awakening  will  bring  righteous- 
ness, wisdom  and  love  to  you  all." 

Since  writing  the  above  the  German  inva- 
sion into  Italy  has  taken  place.  Count  Tolstoi, 
although  not  disparaging  the  attack,  did  not 
think  it  as  serious  as  reported,  for  he  believed 
the  Germans  were  advancing  only  to  their  own 
destruction  and  would  be  hemmed  in  and  perish 
through  mountain-storm  and  snow.  However, 
he  lays  great  stress  upon  the  importance  of  aid 
to  Russia  from  the  United  States. 

"We  do  not  need  your  soldiers,  ammunition 
or  food  but  we  do  need  a  propaganda  to  educate, 
instruct  and  enlighten  the  peoples  of  Russia, 
to  mould  them  together  into  one  great  nation. 
The  Russian  peasant  of  whom  I  was  one,  is 
the  real  Russian  after  all  and  forms  the  greater 
part  of  the  Russian  nation.  They  are  as  they 
are,  for  they  know  no  better  but  are  eager  for 

34 


learning  and  education  and  are  at  heart  a  mar- 
velous people.  Germany  has  flooded  the  coun- 
try with  lies  and  false  reports,  particularly 
among  the  soldiery  but  even  they  need  only  to 
be  shown  the  right  and  they  will  arise  as  one 
man,  not  alone  for  their  own  salvation  but  for 
the  salvation  of  the  entire  world.  My  people, 
Mrs.  Durand,  were  never  an  aggressive  people 
but  a  simple  folk  with  high  spiritual  intuition. 
The  peasant,  the  soldier,  even  the  educated 
Russian  does  not  know  to  what  extent  the 
United  States  has  entered  this  world  war. 
Tell  them  of  it,  that  it  may  give  them  the 
courage  they  have,  to  fight  their  own  enemies 
within  and  the  common  enemy  without — 
ah !  if  Russia  would  but  unite  as  one  man  and 
throw  her  whole  strength  against  Germany  at 
once !  Alas,  my  hopes  may  not  be  realized  — 
the  Russian  people  are  still  children. 

"My  country  needs  but  the  leadership  of 
your  country,  to  bring  out  its  best  —  to  expel 
the  traitor  and  spy.  The  Bolsheviki  with 
Lenine  and  Trotzky  as  leaders  are  only  Ger- 
many's tools,  not  true  Russians  and  are  to 
Russia  what  Benedict  XV,  Austria's  tool,  is  to 
Italy.  The  Vatican  is  absolutely  traitorous  to 
Italy  and  to  the  Allies'  cause,  and  is  betraying 
them  at  every  turn.  Why  will  not  the  United 
States  wake  up  to  this  fact,  and  declare  war 
against  Austria?  I  cannot  understand  it.  An 

35 


absolute  pact  was  arranged  between  the  Kaiser 
and  the  Vatican  to  move  the  See  at  Rome 
to  America  and  with  a  certain  Roman  Cath- 
olic element  in  America  and  the  Imperial 
Germans  there,  together  with  a  following  of 
Irish  Agitators  planned  to  embarrass  the 
administration  and  if  possible  take  possession 
of  the  United  States.  This  reptile  with  its 
venomous  trickery  is  the  poison  that  is  work- 
ing into  the  very  vitals  of  your  industrial  in- 
terests even  into  government  channels,  the 
same  as  in  Russia.  Unless  all  avenues  for 
its  destruction  be  opened  up  at  once — ex- 
posed and  expurged  —  an  industrial  war  will 
be  upon  you  that  will  shake  the  very  founda- 
tion of  civilization  and  hamper  your  effective 
aid  to  the  Allies  in  the  establishment  of  right- 
eous freedom,  security  and  peace." 


CHAPTER   IV 

CLERGY  FROM  EVERY  CHURCH  AND  CREED 
ACKNOWLEDGE  SPIRITISM  AS  A  FACT 

Tn  glancing  through  the  records  compiled 
by  Mr.  R.  A.  Dague,  to  whom  I  wish  to 
acknowledge  my  indebtedness  for  the  many 
names  I  have  used  of  the  big  men  of  life  who 
recognized  the  truth  of  Spirit  communication, 
I  see  besides  those  already  mentioned,  the 
following : 

The  Rev.  H.  W.  Thomas,  D.  D.,  the  great 
Methodist  who  for  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  cen- 
tury preached  every  Sunday  to  thousands  of 
people  in  one  of  the  famous  theaters  of  Chi- 
cago. Dr.  Thomas  said:  "I  am  a  Spiritual- 
ist. I  would  have  to  give  up  the  Bible  if  I  de- 
nied the  ministry  of  spirits.  .  .  .  Thirty 
years  ago  I  was  so  fortunate  as  to  discover 
that  Spiritualism  meant  a  continuity  of  life. 
I  found  that  I  was  in  sympathy  with  its  teach- 
ings. ...  I  am  a  Spiritualist." 

The  Rev.  R.  Heber  Newton  (Episcopalian) 
preached  a  sermon  which  was  published  in 
the  New  York  World  of  April  1 1 ,  1897,  in  which 
he  said:  "Spiritualism  is  a  truth  which  is 

37 


embodied  in  the  records  of  the  very  beginning 
of  our  Christian  religion." 

Rev.  Lyman  Abbott,  D.  D.,  of  Henry  Ward 
Beecher's  old  church  (Congregationalist),  said: 
"I  do  not  believe  that  those  who  have  died 
have  gone  far  away  from  us.  I  love  to 
think  my  mother  follows  me  with  her  eyes  as 
she  did  when  I  was  a  boy.  I  believe  that  the 
strange,  subtle,  inexplicable  and  indefinable 
influence  that  sometimes  comes  into  my  life 
is  from  her." 

Henry  Ward  Beecher,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  said: 
"There  have  been  times  in  which  I  declare  to 
you  heaven  was  more  real  than  earth;  in 
which  my  children  that  were  gone  spoke  more 
plainly  to  me  than  my  children  that  were  with 
me.  These  glimpses  of  the  future  state  are  a 
great  comfort  and  consolation  to  all  those  who 
are  looking  for  the  development  of  perfect 
manhood.  It  is  generally  admitted  from  the 
very  beginning  of  things  that  this  world  has 
been  open  to  the  influence  of  spirits.  That 
false  notions  have  arisen  during  all  ages  con- 
cerning Spiritualism  does  not  prove  its  fallacy 
by  any  means." 

Rev.  Dr.  Joseph  A.  Milburn  (Presbyterian) 
said:  "They  are  forming  a  sect  called  Spirit- 
ualists. You  cannot  laugh  at  Spiritualism.  On- 
ly shallow  people  laugh  at  Spiritualism.  Only 
ignorant  people  laugh  at  Spiritualism.  The 

38 


thoughtful  man  no  longer  laughs  at  the 
Spiritualist.  That  man  is  reaching  for  a  truth 
beyond  the  truth  that  he  can  find  within  the 
boundaries  of  the  visible  church." 

Rt.  Rev.  Samuel  Fallows  of  Chicago,  Bishop 
of  the  Reformed  Episcopal  Church,  says:  "I 
believe  in  apparitions,  and  think  it  is  possible 
that  there  are  mediums  who  have  the  power  of 
materializing  visitors  from  the  Spirit  World. 
Psychic  research  has  opened  up  a  new  field, 
and  it  is  no  longer  scientific  to  pooh !  pooh !  at 
Spiritualism." 

J.  Godfrey  Raupert  of  London,  who  was 
especially  delegated  by  Pope  Pius  X.  to  lecture 
to  Catholic  audiences  in  America  on  Spirit- 
ualism and  its  dangers,  said:  " It  is  no  longer 
possible  to  put  the  phenomena  aside.  A  few 
years  ago  it  was  the  policy  of  the  church  to 
avoid  the  dangers  of  spiritism  by  saying  noth- 
ing about  it,  but  today  the  scientific  men  all 
over  the  world  have  recognized  spiritism  as  a 
definite  and  real  power,  and  to  shelve  it  is  a 
dangerous  policy;  consequently  the  Pope  has 
asked  me  to  tell  Catholics  just  the  attitude  to 
take  toward  this  mysterious  subject.  .  .  . 
The  Church  admits  the  reality  of  these  phe- 
nomena." 

Archdeacon  Colley  of  England,  rector  of 
Stockton,  says :  "Spiritualism  comes  as  a  god- 
send to  millions  who  are  incapable  of  believing 

39 


the  Christian  faith  without  its  aid.  It  teaches 
that  death  is  the  gate  of  life,  hence  that  there 
is  continuous  and  immediate  and  conscious 
being  with  no  sleeping  in  the  grave." 

"Italia"  of  Rome,  a  few  years  ago  said: 
"Joan  of  Arc  recently  appeared  to  Pope  Pius 
and  addressed  to  him  solemn  words  of  encour- 
agement and  exhortation.  It  was  while  the 
Holy  Father  was  indulging  in  devout  prayer 
and  meditation  in  his  private  oratory  imme- 
diately after  the  ceremony  of  reading  the  de- 
cree of  beatification  that  the  spirit  appeared." 


40 


CHAPTER  V 

THE    WORLD'S    GREATEST   STATESMEN, 

AUTHORS  AND  POETS  VOICED  THE 

TRUTH     OF     SPIRIT 

COMMUNICATION 

A  MONO  the  world's  greatest  statesmen, 
authors,  and  poets,  who  were  outspoken 
Spiritists,  one  finds: 

Hon.  Arthur  Balfour,  late  Prime  Minister  of 
England;  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson,  Henry  W. 
Longfellow,  William  Cullen  Bryant,  John 
Greenleaf  Whittier,  Lydia  Maria  Child,  Julia 
Ward  Howe,  Lucretia  Mott,  Ella  Wheeler 
Wilcox,  Wm.  Lloyd  Garrison,  Elizabeth 
Stuart  Phelps,  and  Marie  Corelli. 

Harriet  Beecher  Stowe  said  she  deserved  no 
credit  for  writing  "Uncle  Tom's  Cabin,"  as 
every  line  of  it  was  spoken  to  her  inner  ear  by 
a  spirit  voice. 

Thomson  Jay  Hudson,  Ph.D.,  LL.D.,  au- 
thor of  a  work  entitled  "A  Scientific  Demon- 
stration of  the  Future  Life,"  written  twenty- 
five  years  ago,  said:  "The  man  who  denies 
the  phenomena  of  spiritism  today  is  not  en- 
titled to  be  a  skeptic.  He  is  simply  ignorant 


and  it  would  be  a  hopeless  task  to  attempt  to 
enlighten  him." 

In  mentioning  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson  I 
must  not  let  pass  a  charming  and  interesting 
incident  which  I  had  a  short  time  ago  with 
Mr.  Emerson.  A  friend  came  to  take  luncheon 
with  me;  it  so  happened  to  be  a  day  when  a 
well  known  voice  medium  was  passing  the 
day  at  my  home.  After  luncheon  we  three 
went  into  my  seance  room  for  a  visit  with 
our  friends  in  the  Spirit  world.  We  were 
there  but  a  short  time  when  Mr.  Emerson 
announced  himself.  My  friend  was  much  ex- 
cited and  at  once  exclaimed,  "Certainly  this 
cannot  be  the  great  Emerson."  "Yes,  my 
dear  brother,"  replied  Mr.  Emerson,  "the 
great  Emerson  if  you  so  wish  to  call  me,  but 
let  me  tell  you  I  was  only  great  in  being  the 
instrument  for  God  to  use  to  bring  some  beau- 
tiful and  useful  truths  to  the  world."  My 
friend  then  told  Mr.  Emerson  that  upon  the 
day  of  Mr.  Emerson's  death,  April  27,  1882, 
he  was  a  student  at  Harvard  College  and  that 
during  the  class  recitation  in  English  Litera- 
ture, Prof.  Charles  Eliott  Norton  recited  to 
the  class  an  unpublished  poem  which  he  said 
Mr.  Emerson  had  given  him.  Professor  Nor- 
ton taught  the  poem  to  the  class,  then  ad- 
monished them  never  to  write  it  or  let  it  be 
written  or  printed.  As  my  friend  started  to 

42 


repeat  the  poem,  Mr.  Emerson  joined  in  and 
finished  it  with  him,  then  turned  to  me  and 
said:  "Mrs.  Durand,  I  want  you  to  learn  that 
poem  sometime  and  put  it  in  an  article  on 
Spiritism  and  say  to  the  world  that  I  from  the 
Spirit  world  give  you  this  unpublished  poem 
to  print,  which  I  gave  to  my  friend  Charles 
Norton  at  Cambridge  over  thirty-five  years 
ago." 

A  rare  and  beautiful  phase  of  my  life  indeed 
to  have  such  converse  with  Mr.  Emerson,  for 
as  I  grew  into  womanhood,  it  was  seldom  that 
I  was  without  a  volume  of  Emerson  near  at 
hand,  and  together  with  Epictetus  and  Seneca, 
no  matter  how  many  times  a  passage  was  read 
from  one  or  the  other  of  them,  a  new  thought 
was  given  me  which  brought  greater  inspira- 
tion and  courage. 

"Work  of  his  hand 
He  nor  commends  nor  grieves ; 
Pleads  for  itself  the  fact, 
As  unrepenting  Nature  leaves 
Her  every  act." 


43 


CHAPTER  VI 

MY    OWN   AWAKENING   TO   THE   TRUTH. 

CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  vs.  SPIRIT  HEALING, 

MANY  TESTIMONIALS 

T  N  personally  laying  bare  nay  own  conversion 
to  Spiritism,  I  have  this  to  say.  Up  to  eight 
months  ago  the  word  Spiritism  or  Spiritual- 
ism was  to  me  an  unknown  quantity,  suggest- 
ing fakes  and  charlatans.  Psychical  Research, 
however,  commanded  my  respect,  although 
with  the  exception  of  a  superficial  interest 
many  years  ago  in  Occult  Science,  Esoteric 
Magic  and  Psychic  Phenomena,  I  was  wholly 
unprepared  for  this  great  revelation. 

This  came  from  the  passing  over  of  a  much 
beloved  sister. 

I  had  heard  of  the  book  "Raymond,"  by  Sir 
Oliver  Lodge,  only  a  day  or  two  before  my 
sister's  death,  but  did  not  secure  a  copy  until 
several  days  later,  and  the  first  intimation  I 
had  that  I  myself  was  psychic  came  through 
automatic  writing  from  my  sister.  In  an  in- 
direct and  wandering  way  I  was  led  later  to  a 
medium.  I  went  wholly  unknown  to  the 
medium  and  no  one  knew  of  my  intention  of 

44 


going.  The  address  of  the  medium  was  given 
me  over  a  public  telephone  and  my  name  was 
not  mentioned.  I  received  a  most  accurate 
and  startling  "reading"  and  I  returned  to  my 
home  full  of  excitement  and  happiness.  A 
fortnight  later  a  second  visit  was  made  with 
absolute  proof  of  the  genuineness  of  the  com- 
munication and  my  own  conviction  of  its 
authenticity. 

The  day  following  I  left  for  California,  and 
learning  of  a  voice  medium,  arrived  at  her 
home  wholly  unexpected,  a  few  hours  after 
reaching  California  from  the  East  and  only  an 
hour  after  hearing  of  her.  I  did  not  know 
what  a  voice  medium  meant  nor  the  nature  of 
the  "sitting"  but  when  in  the  very  presence 
of  the  "beyond"  my  beloved  sister  spoke  to 
me  in  her  own  sweet  voice,  the  inexpressible 
joy  of  knowing  that  the  veil  had  been  torn 
aside — the  abyss  bridged — the  last  enemy 
of  all  destroyed — was  very  great. 

Since  that  day  I  have  had  quick  and  mar- 
velous development  and  have  been  led  tenderly, 
lovingly  step  by  step  through  guidance  from 
the  Spirit  world. 

Having  been  a  Christian  Scientist  since  1899 
and  having  received  the  very  best  class  in- 
struction through  the  late  Edward  A.  Kimball, 
I  can  perhaps  appreciate  more  fully  than  the 
average  person  the  beauty  and  marvel  of  spirit 

45 


healing  by  the  physicians  in  the  Spirit  world. 
Mrs.  Eddy  was  herself  a  medium,  and  had  she 
permitted  her  Guides  to  lead  her,  would  have 
developed  into  a  remarkable  instrument  for 
Spirit  communication,  but  the  forces  left  her 
for  a  reason  and  the  book ' '  Science  and  Health' ' 
was  written,  with  catches  of  the  Divine,  mostly 
through  mortal  mind  and  became  a  commercial 
proposition  with  her. 

To  deny  the  good  of  Christian  Science  is  not 
only  foolish  but  wrong,  for  wonderful  results 
have  been  obtained  through  its  agency  and  the 
getting  away  from  the  old  dogma  and  narrow 
creed  of  the  orthodox  church  is  a  great  step 
forward.  Christian  Science  is  a  beautiful  and 
sweet  religion  and  has  healed  many  a  sorrow- 
ing heart  but  it  is  not  all  Truth  and  to  deny  the 
existence  of  matter  or  the  physical  body  is  to 
deny  God,  for  our  life  here  in  'the  flesh  is  a  part 
of  the  Life  Eternal.  It  is  all  the  same  —  the 
one  beautiful  life — and  this  body  created  by 
God,  given  us  by  God,  should  be  honored, 
cared  for  and  acknowledged.  To  abuse,  to 
ignore,  to  deny  our  physical  body  one  might  as 
well  deny  life  itself.  And  for  Mrs.  Eddy  to 
have  taught  her  students  to  wage  war,  as  it 
were,  on  Spiritism,  is  nothing  short  of  sacrilege 
and  I  am  convinced  that  she  herself  knew  bet- 
ter even  when  in  the  act  of  decrying  it.  It 
was  because  Mrs.  Eddy  listened  to  her  own 

46 


voice  and  not  the  voice  of  God  that  she  was 
estranged  from  her  Guides  who  would  have 
taught  her  the  Truth,  and  she  was,  therefore, 
denied  further  communication. 

In  another  volume  I  hope  to  enter  more 
fully  into  this  subject,  and  may  have  the  privi- 
lege of  Mrs.  Eddy  herself  explaining  to  me 
where  Christian  Science  is  the  truth  and  where 
it  is  not.  But  I  do  know  that  all  healing  is 
from  above  and  where  demonstrations  of  heal- 
ing are  made  by  a  Christian  Science  Practi- 
tioner, it  is  not  because  the  Practitioner  in 
denying  matter  and  error  receives  results 
from  that  denial,  but  it  is  because  the  Prac- 
titioner is  so  near  his  or  her  Guides  that  the 
earnestness  of  prayer  and  purpose  brings  the 
aid  asked  for. 

I  talk  to  Dr.  Nicholas  Senn,  Dr.  John  B. 
Murphy,  Dr.  Henry  B.  Favill,  as  readily 
and  as  easily  as  if  they  were  in  the  flesh 
seated  in  their  office  chair,  and  many  cases 
medicinal  and  surgical  have  been  explained 
to  me.  I  can  attest  to  a  most  remarkable 
diagnosis  by  Dr.  Senn  relative  to  myself. 
Having  for  twenty  years  been  a  sufferer 
from  acute  facial  neuralgia,  I  went  to  a 
well-known  Chicago  Hospital  a  year  ago 
for  a  careful  examination  to  ascertain  the 
cause  of  the  pain.  A  prominent  nose  and 
throat  specialist  saw  nothing  wrong  in  my 

47 


nose  or  throat,  and  in  fact  none  of  the  special- 
ists, after  making  every  test  and  examination, 
found  the  cause.  However,  a  dental  surgeon  in 
examining  an  X-ray  plate  of  my  teeth  an- 
nounced that  four  teeth  should  be  extracted, 
that  they  in  all  probability  caused  my  suffer- 
ing. A  second  dental  surgeon,  but  of  another 
school,  agreed  also  that  four  teeth  should 
come  out  but  only  one  was  included  in  the 
first  four.  I  finally  consented  and  four  per- 
fectly strong  hard  teeth  were  cracked  with  a 
hammer  and  the  pieces  delicately  or  indeli- 
cately picked  out,  and  with  only  a  local  an- 
aesthetic. The  result  was  a  week  of  nervous 
exhaustion  and  intense  suffering  at  the  hos- 
pital and  five  months  of  severe  neuralgic  head- 
ache, so  that  my  "last  state  was  worse  than 
the  first."  In  speaking  of  this  circumstance 
Dr.  Senn  indignantly  denounced  such  a  brutal 
treatment  and  more  indignantly  denied  the 
necessity  of  extracting  the  teeth,  for  such 
infection  as  was  seen  in  the  roots  or  ducts  of 
the  teeth  could  be  easily  reached  and  treated 
and  the  pus  pockets  cleansed.  And  I  have 
since  learned  that  much  of  my  severe  illness 
after  the  operation,  which  I  presumed  came 
from  the  infection  in  the  teeth,  was  in  reality 
due  to  the  harmful  effect  of  the  drug  and 
to  an  infected  instrument  used  in  the  hypo- 
dermic at  the  time  of  the  extraction  of  the 

48 


teeth.  For  at  a  later  date,  in  removing  a 
nerve,  the  dentist  again  used  an  infected  in- 
strument and  too  powerful  an  anaesthetic 
which  brought  about  exactly  the  same  serious 
results  I  had  before  experienced.  And  better 
than  any  X-Ray  examination,  I  was  told  the 
real  cause  of  my  neuralgia: 

"When  a  child,  Mrs.  Durand,  you  had  an 
injury  either  through  a  fall  or  blow  upon  the 
nose,  which  resulted  in  the  mal-position  of  the 
Septum,  the  central  bone  of  your  nose,  while 
the  bone  was  soft  and  easily  displaced.  This 
deflection  caused  a  prevention  of  drainage  from 
the  ethmoid  and  frontal  sinuses  and  has  kept 
up  more  or  less  inflammation  with  a  pressure 
upon  the  nerve  centers  producing  neuritis  of 
the  face.  Particularily  in  damp  weather  the 
injured,  ill-fed  nerves  became  more  inflamed 
and  created  greater  pain.  You  have  really 
never  breathed  through  your  left  nostril  and 
consequently  your  blood  was  not  receiving  all 
the  oxygen  it  should  have  received  and  your 
whole  nervous  system  has  been  underfed.  This 
abnormal  bone  together  with  a  partly  atrophied 
adenoid  should  be  cut  out.  You  have  beside 
this,  tonsillar  pockets  and  crypts  with  infected 
material  in  your  throat  which  must  also  be 
removed  as  it  is  conducive  to  your  neuralgic 
condition,  and  the  eustachian  tubes  need 
to  be  opened  up.  Go  to  Dr. whom  I 

49 


brought  to  Chicago  and  who  is  absolutely  the 
finest  nasal  and  throat  operator  today,  and 
have  him  fix  you  up,  but  tell  him  not  to  charge 
you  millionaire  prices." 

Upon  reaching  the  Surgeon's  office  I  placed 
face  down  on  his  office  desk  a  piece  of  paper 
with  Dr.  Senn's  diagnosis  written  upon  it.  I 
did  not  mention  anything,  not  even  my  severe 
headaches,  only  asked  for  an  examination  of 
my  nose  and  throat.  After  the  examination 

Dr. turned  to  me  and  said,  "Why,  my 

dear  woman,  your  left  nostril  is  entirely  closed 
and  always  has  been."  With  that  he  gave 
me  the  exact  diagnosis  of  Dr.  Senn.  I  handed 
him  the  slip  of  paper  from  the  table  to  which 
he  exclaimed,  "By  George,  this  is  extraor- 
dinary! It  beats  anything  I  ever  heard  of!" 
The  result  was  a  removal  of  a  bone  the  size  of 
a  green  bean  seed,  and  for  the  first  time  in  my 
life  I  breathed  freely,  and  since  that  day  have 
not  had  one  trace  of  neuralgic  pain. 

Among  the  many  cases  I  know  of  bearing 
testimony  of  Spirit  healing  is  that  of  a  young 
woman  who  through  stoppage  in  the  rectum 
was  obliged  to  undergo  the  operation  of 
colotomy.  With  many  operations  she  had 
been  confined  in  her  bed  for  years  and  her 
case  considered  incurable.  Hearing  of  Spirit 
healing  through  a  medium,  she  asked  that  the 
Spirit  doctors  tell  her  the  trouble  and  if  her 

50 


case  was  really  hopeless.  She  was  told  what  op- 
eration to  have  done  and  followed  their  advice. 
The  opening  in  her  side  was  closed,  the  rectum 
was  made  to  perform  its  natural  function,  and 
she  is  today  a  perfectly  well  and  happy  woman. 

Another  case,  that  comes  to  my  mind,  is 
that  of  a  five-year-old  child  badly  poisoned 
with  measles.  She  became  so  infected  she 
could  not  be  recognized.  After  a  consultation 
of  three  physicians  had  decided  she  could  not 
live  the  night  through,  a  friend  at  the  same 
apartment  house,  who  was  particularly  fond 
of  the  little  girl,  in  desperation  rang  up  a 
medium  and  asked  for  help.  The  medium 
at  once  went  into  her  seance  room  and  re- 
mained all  night  that  the  Spirit  doctors  might 
draw  strength  from  her  for  the  child.  About 
four  o'clock  she  was  told  a  change  had  come 
and  she  might  retire.  Exhausted  and  half 
asleep,  she  thought  the  Spirit  physicians 
meant  the  child  had  passed  over  into  the  Spirit 
world.  But  early  next  morning  the  friend  tel- 
ephoned her  that  a  miracle  had  been  performed, 
for  the  child  had  just  opened  her  eyes  and  had 
recognized  her  father  and  would  live.  The 
child  did  live  and  is  a  strong,  active  little  girl 
today. 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  cases  of  Spirit 
healing — and  it  is  difficult  to  know  wnere  to 
stop  where  there  are  so  many  to  relate — was 

51 


that  of  a  young  man  who  caught  a  severe  cold 
that  went  to  his  lungs.  He  looked  as  though 
he  were  dying,  and  every  one,  including  his 
physician,  expected  him  to  die.  He  was  taken 
to  the  County  Hospital,  but  hearing  of  spirit 
healing  through  a  medium,  he  asked  if  she 
might  be  with  him  at  the  hospital  during  the 
examination  by  the  hospital  surgeons.  The 
medium  told  the  physicians  that  the  young 
man  had  an  abscess  on  his  lung  and  that  they 
should  operate  to  relieve  the  pus,  but  they 
only  smilingly  informed  her  she  was  mistaken. 
However,  when  the  young  man  was  about  to 
die,  as  a  last  resort  an  operation  was  performed 
and  over  a  cup  of  pus  removed,  and  today  he 
is  as  well  and  vigorous  as  ever. 

I  could  go  on  through  many  pages  relating 
just  such  incidents  as  these  for  the  blind  are 
made  to  see,  the  lame  to  walk,  and  every  known 
malady,  whether  medicinal  or  surgical,  healed 
through  guidance  and  care.  But  that  does 
not  mean  a  denial  of  the  disease  or  the  letting 
alone  of  the  "claim,"  as  the  Christian  Scientists 
call  it,  for  the  correct  diagnosis  is  given  by  the 
Spirit  world  and  one  is  directed  to  the  proper 
surgeon  or  physician  for  treatment  or  in  some 
cases  simple  remedies,  change  of  diet  and  liv- 
ing is  advised.  Again  steam  baths,  electric  or 
medicinal,  are  advocated.  Dr.  Nicholas  Senn 
told  me  one  day  that  about  ninety  per  cent  of 

52 


the  present  day  diagnoses,  even  among  our 
most  reputable  physicians  and  surgeons,  is 
really  guess  work;  and  according  to  Dr.  John 
B.  Murphy,  in  surgery  it  is  all  a  matter  of  who 
is  the  most  fearless  "butcher."  "Why,  I  was 
just  as  bad  as  the  rest  of  them  Mrs.  Durand. 
I  only  achieved  my  great  reputation  as  a  sur- 
geon, because  I  happened  to  be  a  little  bigger 
butcher,  —  sometimes  I  hit  it  right,  some- 
times I  didn't."  This  is  not  written  dispar- 
agingly of  the  physician  or  surgeon,  for  often- 
times they  can  not  really  know  the  trouble 
until  an  operation  is  performed.  I  recall  Dr. 
Murphy's  explaining  this  to  me  in  the  case  of 
gall  stones  and  appendicitis.  A  surgeon  may 
operate  for  one,  when  it  is  the  other,  for  an 
X-Ray  does  not  always  locate  the  gall  stone, 
and  not  seeing  a  stone  the  appendix  is  decided 
upon  as  the  guilty  destroyer  whereas  it  may 
be  wholly  innocent.  The  symptoms  are  very 
similar,  Dr.  Murphy  says — vomiting  in  both 
cases.  However,  there  will  always  run  a  tem- 
perature with  an  infected  appendix  and  not  so 
frequent  or  at  all,  if  I  remember  him  correctly, 
with  a  gall  stone. 

A  physician  or  surgeon  should  go  to  a  good 
voice  or  trance  medium,  but  only  to  one  of 
high  Spirituality,  reliable  and  morally  above 
reproach — and  not  be  ashamed  to  go, — talk 
to  the  physicians  in  the  Spirit  world,  many 

53 


of  whom  are  old  friends,  get  the  proper 
diagnosis  and  advice  before  operating,  or  treat 
the  case  as  may  be  and  follow  out  the  in- 
structions given  by  the  Spirit  world  in  the 
matter  of  proper  diet  and  proper  living  for 
the  human  race — much  suffering  and  disease 
would  thus  be  prevented.  And  in  communi- 
cating with  those  who  have  passed  over,  but 
who  are  much  the  same  as  when  in  the 
flesh — retaining  their  own  individuality — the 
fear  of  disease  and  the  sting  of  death  would 
be  lifted  from  trembling  and  suffering  human- 
ity. Man  then  could  live  in  peace  of  mind, 
seeking  only  the  greater  knowledge  for  his 
Spiritual  growth  and  betterment. 


54 


CHAPTER  VII 

SEPARATING  THE  TARES  FROM  THE  WHEAT — 

ALL  GENIUS  is  BUT  INSPIRATION 

FROM  THE  SPIRIT  WORLD 

T  N  giving  out  this  experience  and  knowledge 
of  Spirit  communication  I  do  not  stand  for 
all  who  may  call  themselves  mediums  or  even 
Spiritualists,  nor  do  I  represent  any  Spirit- 
ualists' League  or  Church.  As  in  all  things, 
"Prove  all  things,  hold  fast  to  that  which  is 
good,"  for  there  are  false  as  well  as  true  proph- 
ets, and  sad  indeed,  there  is  the  unworthy 
medium  who  traffics  in  her  God-given  gift 
seeking  the  material  substance  it  brings  rather 
than  the  spiritual  unfoldment  of  those  who 
come  to  her.  And  sadder  still,  is  the  un- 
scrupulous medium — surrounded  by  invisible 
entities  of  the  evil  forces — who  prey  upon  a 
victim  as  a  vulture,  gratifying  their  own 
vicious  desires  in  the  cloak  of  "beings  from 
above" — the  passing  over  from  the  flesh  to 
the  Spirit  condition  does  not  at  once  make 
perfect.  Life  is  progression.  Like  attracts 
like,  and  a  medium  unless  absolutely  pure, 
good,  honest,  will  attract  about  her  those 

55 


from  the  Spirit  world  that  are  the  same — 
and  these  evil  Spirits  oft-times  will  personate 
good  Spirits  and  even  the  loved  ones  of  those 
who  come  for  communication,  in  order  to 
gain  their  own  selfish  aims  or  the  demands 
of  their  medium.  But  the  time  is  coming,  I 
know,  when  Spiritism,  respected  and  revered 
will  be  placed  where  it  should  have  been  placed 
for  the  past  2000  years  —  above  all  reproach 
and  criticism.  It  is  the  Truth — the  Great 
Master  brought — that  is  so  misunderstood,  so 
misapplied  in  the  many  sects  and  creeds. 

The  Constitution  of  the  United  States  gives 
individual  religious  freedom,  and  many  of  the 
States  are  now  making  laws  for  the  protection 
of  legitimate  Spiritism  and  the  expulsion  of  the 
faker  and  charlatan.  The  great  difficulty, 
however,  in  sifting  the  fraudulent  from  the 
true,  lies  in  the  public  or  laymen  not  being 
able  to  judge  properly,  and,  as  has  been  the 
case,  a  fine  medium  may  be  branded  by  the 
police  or  press  as  an  imposter  whereas  in  re- 
ality she  is  a  beautiful  handmaiden  of  God 
giving  solace  to  the  afflicted  and  distressed. 

In  time,  I  am  convinced,  a  greater  under- 
standing and  interest  will  bring  about  a  de- 
sired reform  in  the  setting  forth  of  this  reli- 
gion, for  it  is  the  only  true  religion,  not  merely 
a  religion  of  faith  or  hope  but  actual  fact,  and 
should  be  protected  and  presented  in  a  dig- 

56 


nified,  reverent  manner  and  only  in  beautiful 
and  proper  surroundings.  One  asks  right  here, 
if  Spiritism  is  knowledge,  and  the  only  true 
religion,  why  then  has  it  not  been  experienced 
and  practiced  more  generally  these  past  2000 
years?  I  answer  with  another  question.  Be- 
cause a  child  in  the  first  grade  at  school  can 
not  grasp  Euclid,  should  Euclid,  who  collected 
and  systematized  all  the  fundamental  princi- 
ples of  pure  mathematics  which  had  been  de- 
livered down  by  Thales,  Pythagoras,  Eudoxas 
and  other  mathematicians  before  him,  be  de- 
clared false? 

The  world  for  the  past  2000  years  has  never 
gone  beyond  the  first  grade,  but  God  grant 
that  this  awful  fire  the  world  is  now  passing 
through  may  be  the  means  of  raising  it  to  a 
higher  plane  of  knowledge  and  understanding. 
For,  from  every  path  of  the  earth  life,  legal 
and  the  church  —  physicians  and  surgeons, 
authors,  statesmen,  men  of  affairs,  of  art,  of 
music,  —  each  in  his  particular  "calling"  is 
now,  from  the  Spirit  world,  directing  condi- 
tions on  this  earth  plane  as  tirelessly  and  as 
faithfully  as  when  in  the  flesh  —  and  2000 
years  in  Eternity  is  but  as  a  day. 

Worthy  exponents  of  many  religions  and 
creeds  when  on  earth,  even  from  the  Far 
East,  teach  now  from  above  the  one  Truth  — 
the  one  Life  —  the  one  Love  —  the  one  God; 

57 


and  Spirits  from  the  higher  spheres  come  to 
those  who  are  ready  to  receive  them,  giving 
the  higher  truths  of  the  Life  Eternal. 

Our  own  noted  and  brilliant  personalities  on 
the  earth  plane  —  inventors,  writers,  poets, 
musicians,  sculptors,  painters  —  are  in  reality 
but  psychics  whose  achievements  come  because 
they  are  mediums  and  can  retain  impressions 
given  them  by  the  Spirit  world.  Some  know 
this,  others  do  not. 

Take  Galli-Curci,  for  an  example — her  won- 
derful gift  is  God-given,  through  the  inspira- 
tion of  Jenny  Lind.  I  have  been  granted  the 
exceptional  favor  of  hearing  Jenny  Lind  sing 
four  times.  Her  voice  from  the  Spirit  world 
is  Galli-Curci's,  or  more  correctly,  Galli-Curci's 
voice  is  Jenny  Lind's.  I  doubt  if  an  artist 
could  tell  one  from  the  other.  And  I  was 
told  that  Jenny  Lind,  finding  in  this  young 
Spanish-Italian  girl  a  proper  channel  or  proper 
mediumistic  conditions,  inspired  her  with  her 
own  rare  gift. 

And  Jascha  Heifitz,  the  violinist — no  such 
gift  as  his  has  been  given  the  world  since 
Paganini.  A  critic  says  of  him,  "A  mere 
youth  (but  nineteen  years  old)  Heifitz  demon- 
strated in  Tschaikowsky's  concerto  that  he  has 
far  outstripped  the  masters  of  the  art.  Not 
Ysaye  himself  in  his  best  days,  not  Kriesler  nor 
Elman  nor  any  of  their  illustrious  forbears 

58 


have  been  blest  with  genius  such  as  that  which 
the  young  Russian  possesses." 

In  speaking  of  Heifitz  a  concert-goer  said, 
"But  it  is  only  that  he  is  a  natural  violin- 
ist." Yes,  that  is  the  keynote  exactly.  He  is 
a  natural  violinist.  Why?  Because  he  has 
brought  back  his  great  gift  with  him  from  the 
Spirit  world  in  this  reincarnation,  or  else  he 
is  a  fine  psychic  and  some  Spirit  in  the  Spirit 
world  is  giving  him  the  inspiration.  It  is 
ever  as  they  say — and  greater  things  yet  will 
be. 

I  am  also  told  that  it  is  possible  when  a  por- 
trait or  bust  is  being  executed  of  one  who  has 
passed  over,  for  that  one  to  so  impress  the 
artist  or  sculptor  with  his  living  likeness  that 
the  result  at  times  is  startling,  or  as  the  world 
expresses  it,  "most  life-like,"  and  an  artist  has 
been  known  to  say,  "  I  really  felt  his  presence." 
Mr.  Lincoln  has  assured  me,  however,  that  he 
did  not  impress  the  sculptor  Barnard  in  the 
execution  of  his  hideous  Lincoln  Statue.  To 
quote  Mr.  Lincoln,  who  is  much  displeased 
with  the  Barnard  effort: 

"The  statue — that  statue  of  Barnard's  — 
why,  Mrs.  Durand,  it  is  dreadful — a  carica- 
ture. I  am  glad  my  son  Robert  has  come  out 
so  strong  against  it.  It  is  an  outrage.  How 
that  man  Barnard  can  put  it  over  anybody,  I 
can't  see.  I  never  looked  like  that,  and  it  is 

59 


a  disgrace  to  have  any  President  of  the  United 
States  look  like  that,  even  if  I  did.  No,  just 
tell  the  people  for  me  I  never  want  that  statue 
placed  anywhere  except  in  the  junk  heap." 
Mr.  Lincoln  is  very  fond  of  the  Augustus  St. 
Gaudens  Statue  in  Lincoln  Park,  Chicago,  and 
no  doubt  found  the  sculptor  receptive  of  in- 
spiration during  its  conception.  Receiving 
word  one  evening  last  spring  that  Mr.  Lincoln 
and  Judge  Sheperd  wished  me  to  go  at  once  to 
a  certain  professional  voice  medium  in  Chicago 
I  hastily  caught  an  early  evening  train  to 
Chicago  from  my  country  home.  As  I  drove 
up  Dearborn  Avenue  to  the  Park  on  my  way  to 
her  home,  a  light  fall  of  snow  with  the  new 
system  of  lighting  brought  out  the  Lincoln 
Statue  in  the  most  unusual  and  extraordinary 
effect.  It  was  superb,  and  the  first  thing 
Mr.  Lincoln  greeted  me  with  was,  "Well,  Mrs. 
Durand,  my  statue  looked  pretty  fine  tonight, 
didn't  it?" 

This  marvelous  "knowing"  even  of  one's 
thoughts  by  the  Spirit  world,  as  applied  to 
seemingly  trivial  affairs  unnoticed  by  the  hu- 
man being,  is  at  times  startling,  nevertheless 
very  beautiful,  showing  the  interest  displayed 
in  our  behalf.  In  deference  to  Mr.  Lincoln 
why  not  settle  the  controversy  "To  be  or  not 
to  be?"  for  all  time.  Act  upon  his  pleasure 
and  consign  the  Barnard  statue  to  the  "junk 

60 


heap."  If  permitted  to  be  placed  the  dis- 
cussion would  never  end.  The  world  —  or 
England,  to  be  more  specific, — wishes  to 
honor  Abraham  Lincoln  with  a  statue.  She 
may  now  honor  him  with  his  wish  and  judg- 
ment. 

It  is  inspiration  from  the  Spirit  world  which 
made  possible  the  telephone,  wireless,  aero- 
plane,— in  fact,  all  inventors  are  inspired,  be- 
ing instruments  or  mediums  through  which 
ideas  from  the  Spirit  world  may  be  carried  out 
on  the  earth  plane,  and  the  time  is  coming  when 
an  instrument  will  be  used  for  Spirit  com- 
munication where  one  may  speak  to  those 
"on  the  other  side"  as  readily  as  now 
through  the  telephone  from  town  to  town. 
The  human  medium  will  be  replaced  by  a 
sensitive  wave  instrument  on  the  principle 
of  the  wireless  telephone.  One  speaks  of  a 
great  genius  on  earth;  he  is  great  only  in 
being  a  great  psychic  or  medium,  and  there- 
by an  instrument  the  Spirit  world  can  use. 
To  explain  this  a  Spirit  from  one  of  the 
higher  spheres  said,  and  to  quote  her  exact 
words: 

"Spirits  return  earthward  to  carry  their 
knowledge  as  a  blessing  to  the  inhabitants 
of  earth,  and  finding  some  receptive  brain 
breathe  on  it  the  fires  from  off  the  altar  of 
their  own  souls,  until  it  kindles  to  a  steady 

61 


flame,  when  the  world  will  startle  from  its 
day-dreams  by  the  power  of  a  great  painter 
or  a  great  sculptor  or  a  great  poet  or  a  great 
musician."  And  to  again  quote  Ralph  Waldo 
Emerson  from  the  Spirit  world : 

"I  went  through  my  earthly  existence  with- 
out realizing  the  inspiration  I  got.  I  thought 
I  was  fortunate  in  being  able  to  do  my  work, 
but  as  I  go  on  I  see  I  was  inspired.  Even  my 
condition  was  an  inspiration  and  it  seemed  to 
make  it  easy.  I  always  sought  the  spiritual 
part  of  life  and  my  conditions  came  easily  and 
I  was  very  happy.  I  hope  the  world  will  study 
my  books  with  this  view  and  feel  the  inspira- 
tion in  them." 

Before  many  years  pass,  half  the  world  will 
so  develop  that  it  will  recognize  and  under- 
stand from  whence  all  knowledge  and  under- 
standing is  given  and  will  lean  not  on  earthly 
knowledge  or  mortal  thought  but  on  spiritual 
guidance  alone. 

As  Count  Tolstoi  has  said,  "  The  Spirit  world 
is  able  to  inspire  many  these  days.  You  will 
find  in  time  that  human  beings  will  become 
more  sensitive  instruments  for  us;  the  Spirit 
voices  will  be  heard  everywhere  and  the  Truth 
shall  then  be  known." 

This  scourging  of  today  is  really  but  the 
passing  out  of  the  accumulation  of  sin  that 
is  in  the  world, —  Greed,  Hate,  Godlessness 

62 


Autocracy,  whether  of  power  or  wealth  will  be 
levelled,  creeds  and  institutions  will  pass,  and 
the  Victory  of  Peace  and  Love  will  be  trium- 
phant in  one  great  brotherhood  of  man  and 
nations. 

A  great  and  beautiful  Spirituality  is  to 
come,  governed  and  guided  by  the  Spirit 
world,  which  after  all  is  not  far  distant  but 
near  at  hand  in  reality,  a  part  of  our  very 
life  and  existence.  .  .  and 


From  the  ashes  of  today  shall  arise  a  more 
glorified  Spirituality  tomorrow. 


A  VISION 

'IT'ODA  Y,  looking  from  above,  I  see  before  me  a  vision 
of  great  beauty; 

Earth,  God's  own  creation,  is  green  in  foliage  of  deepest 
hue. 

Across  the  vast  expanse  of  land,  yellow  crops  wave  in  lux- 
uriant wealth; 

Flowers  and  ferns  are  heaped  in  extravagant  splendor. 

Crystal  waters  lie  glistening  in  the  clear  and  brilliant 
atmosphere; 

Cattle  graze  on  the  fertile  hills,  and  sheep  nestle  by  the 
wayside. 

Birds  of  gorgeous  plumage  spread  their  wings  aloof, 

And  in  every  breath  of  wind  the  songs  of  many  birds  break 
forth. 

Calm — Peaceful — with  villages  of  white, 

The  lazy  smoke  from  the  tiled  roof  of  the  home  floats  up- 
ward. 

Happy  children  in  joyous  laughter  romp  beneath  the 
spreading  branches, 

And  man  at  last  has  found  his  own,  and  is  embraced  in 
the  arms  of  his  Creator. 


64 


LtBKARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CT/ 

SANTA  BARBARA 


BF 
?,7 
01, 


THE  LIBRARY 
UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 

Santa  Barbara 
Goleta,  California 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
STAMPED  BELOW. 


A     001  062  299     1 


